Limiting marriage to a relationship between a man and a woman would remain China’s legal position, a Chinese National People’s Congress spokesman said yesterday, ruling out following Taiwan in allowing same-sex marriage, despite pressure from activists.
The Legislative Yuan in May passed a bill that endorsed same-sex marriage, after years of heated debate over marriage equality that has divided Taiwan.
China has a thriving gay scene in major cities, but there has been little sign that the Chinese Communist Party would legalize same-sex marriage.
Asked at a news briefing whether China would legalize same-sex marriage, Zang Tiewei (臧鐵偉), spokesman for the congress’ legal affairs commission, said that Chinese law only allowed for marriage between one man and one woman.
“This rule suits our country’s national condition and historical and cultural traditions,” he said. “As far as I know, the vast majority of countries in the world do not recognize the legalization of same-sex marriage.”
Individual Chinese lawmakers have in the past few years occasionally proposed measures during the annual meeting of the largely rubber-stamp legislature every March to legalize same-sex marriage, without success.
There are no laws against same-sex relations in China and, despite growing awareness of LGBT issues, the community has been the target of censors in the past several months, fueling fears of a growing intolerance.
Activists have asked people in China to propose amendments to a draft civil code en masse, although they have admitted that they see little chance of success.
The parts of the code relating to marriage are expected to pass into law next year.
The code makes changes on issues such as sexual harassment, divorce and family planning, but does not further the rights of the LGBT community, drafts published by legislature showed.
The marriage section of the draft civil code maintains the bond as being between a man and a woman, Zang said.
Prominent Chinese gay rights activist Sun Wenlin (孫文麟) told reporters that he was disappointed by the comments, but not surprised.
“I feel I am being excluded, and am absolutely not a consideration for policymakers,” he added.
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